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Primary prevention of Clostridium difficile infection is difficult, but some probiotic formulations given in conjunction with antibiotics seem to be effective. In the current retrospective study, researchers evaluated whether metronidazole could prevent C. difficile infection in high-risk, hospitalized patients.
The study cohort comprised 12,026 patients aged ≥55 years who received either piperacillin-tazobactam or ciprofloxacin, plus a gastric acid suppressant (either a proton-pump inhibitor or a histamine receptor blocker) during their hospitalization at a single institution. This group of high-risk patients was divided into patients who were receiving metronidazole for non–C. difficile-related indications prior to initiation of the broad-…